Forces of nature
by zippizappi
Summary: AU fetus Haleb. What do Mrs. Montgomery, a blizzard and cracker crumbs have to do with Haleb leaving their friendship behind to try something new? Rated M!


He could really say so much with just a sigh. Especially when he was using his Hanna-you're-an-idiot-and-we're-never-coming-out-of-this-alive sigh.

Normally she would have fixed him with a withering look of scorn and disdain, but she didn't dare take her eyes off the road ahead. Was that even the road anymore? She couldn't tell. The entire world had turned into a snow globe gone crazy and she couldn't see a damn thing. For god's sake, it was April! Was this the climate change everyone kept talking about?

"We should turn around," Caleb said — and that had to be the tenth time in as many minutes that he had made that suggestion.

Hanna said nothing. She wanted to turn around. But she couldn't do it when he was the one who kept suggesting it. Besides, there was no way to turn around on this narrow road. She slowed down a little when a familiar sign materialized through the swirling snow. There was a place to turn around coming up, she just knew it. She bit her lip and tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

Beside her Caleb let out another sigh. What was her problem? All she had to do was turn the Mercedes around and maybe, just maybe, they'd make it back to Rosewood before all the roads were closed.

"Maybe I should drive?" he suggested.

At that, her head whipped to glare at him. "No. Do you think that just because you're a guy you're better at this? Do you even have a driver's license?"

"FYI, I have driven cars before. Way before you have."

"Legally?"

He stayed mum, knowing that his answer only would have proven her point.

By the time she looked at the road again they were passing the bridge she had wanted to use to turn around. Fuming with him, she hit the brakes and the back end of the Mercedes began to shimmy and lose traction. "No," she said again, this time to the car, but they had already begun to slip sideways. For half a second she thought she had brought them back to normalcy and then the car made a sickening lurch to the left.

Hanna stomped on the brakes hard, even though she knew she shouldn't. The Mercedes seemed to pick up speed at that and then the world tilted in front of her. Time slowed as they slid off the road and down the steep embankment and the only thing she could think of was that she was going to be stuck here, with Caleb, and he was going to gloat as if this was all her fault.

They came to a stop and, for a few seconds, neither of them spoke. Caleb looked over at her, seeing that her knuckles were white as she still clutched the steering wheel. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She shot him a disgusted look and unfastened her seat belt. For a moment she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and considered her options. First, she needed to see if there was any possible way to get them back on the road. She opened the door and was stepping out as he said, "Uh, Hanna, I think maybe we should stay in."

The rest of his words were lost in her shriek as she slipped and fell. She slammed into the open car door before sliding underneath it to land in an undignified sprawl next to the front tire. She heard Caleb's door open over the annoying repeating chime meant to remind her that her keys were in the ignition.

Infuriated and embarrassed, Hanna tried to stand up, only to have her left foot slip and then twist beneath her.

"Oww," she moaned softly. "Dammit." She retrieved her cell phone from her purse and held it at different angles to be able and see its display in the middle of the swirling snow storm. "Shoot, my phone died. How's that possible…? Last time I checked my messages I had 19 percent left."

"Happens. It's because of the cold. Or maybe it got wet," he explained non-chalantly which caused her to scoff, loud enough for him to hear.

Caleb checked his own phone, drawing a different conclusion. "No service!" He quickly put it back in his pocket and looked around, squinting his eyes to try and see if there were any roadside emergency phones somewhere ahead.

"God, what did people do back in the day when cell phones hadn't been invented yet?"

"Die young and bored?" Caleb quipped.

Yup, that was it. She was going to die out here in a blizzard, merely twenty miles away from her hometown with a guy from school who drove her insane most of the time – and she still hadn't figured out whether it was due to his unnerving ability to be quick at repartee or his obscenely beautiful brown eyes that she could barely ignore whenever they sat next to each other during detention.

And they'd spent a lot of hours in detention together lately. Too many for their teacher, Mrs. Montgomery's liking. The day before, their tenth time in detention in the space of just one month had rolled around, and instead of a plaque or an honorary mention in the school paper, they had both gotten the order to drive out to that old folks' home to help out for one day Who was to know that today would be the day winter decided to make its comeback and surprise them on their way back home… Was Mrs. Montgomery stuck in the snow, too, somewhere close by? She had been right ahead of them in her own car with two other less-than-happy helpers.

"Okay, now what? Got a plan, Mr. Fix-it?" Hanna called out to Caleb, her hands buried deep in the pockets of her faux leather coat. She could practically feel that the icy winds had started to turn her nose red, and so she felt somewhat betrayed when she saw Caleb approach her through the masses of fluttering snowflakes, looking cheerful and not even remotely shiver.

"Look, Mrs. Montgomery knows we were driving right behind her. She's going to get suspicious if we won't return to Rosewood right after she did and she's going to do something about it. Don't you think? I figure our best option is to stay put. Someone'll come by and find us," Caleb said as he came around the front end of the car. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Stay put and freeze to death?" she snapped at him, grabbing for the car's open door to try and hoist herself upright. The door swung away from her grasp and shut. Well, at least the irritating chiming sound had stopped.

Caleb took hold of her elbow to help steady her as she tried again to stand up. "l think our chances of freezing are higher outside of the Mercedes than inside it," he pointed out.

"We're not that far from the cabin," she announced. Then, she softly added to herself, "l think."

"What cabin?" Caleb looked around and saw nothing but thick trees and snow. Lots and lots of snow.

"Dr. Ackard. She's a friend of my mom's. We used to come up here on weekends when I was a little kid."

"Here?" he said. "Are you sure it's near here?"

"Yes," she said impatiently.

"How far is it?"

"That bridge we just passed? It's maybe half a mile, maybe a little more, up that side road."

He looked doubtful so she waved at him. "Fine, you stay here and wait for help. I'm going to the cabin." She stumbled up the hill and he could see she was favoring her left ankle.

Hanna winced and bit the inside of her cheek as she climbed. Caleb scrambled past her and held his hand out to help her. She hesitated for a moment and then took his hand so he could pull her up. Once they were both standing in the tracks left by the Mercedes he reached into his pocket and pulled his mittens out.

"Here." He held the mittens out to her. Hanna eyed them suspiciously.

"You actually own a pair of mittens?"

"Why wouldn't l?"

"l can't take your mittens."

"Yes, you can," he insisted. "Please, take them."

Hanna gave in and put them on. She started to walk in the tracks from the Mercedes, congratulating herself on the fact that she was only slightly limping.

"How bad is it?" Caleb asked as he caught up to her.

"Not bad," she lied.

"Liar. Let me help you."

"How?"

"I'll give you a piggyback ride."

She laughed at the idea. "Caleb, it might be a mile or more to the cabin."

"So? If you get too heavy, I'll put you down."

She wavered and then gave in. "Fine. But if you have to put me down, please don't tell me it's because I'm too heavy, okay?"

He went down on one knee in front of her so that she could get on his back. "It's a deal."

The snow became deeper as he crossed the bridge since that part of the road had not been plowed, but it didn't seem to affect Caleb much. The snow was nearly up to his knees and Hanna was grateful that she wasn't going to have to slog through it on her own.

At times like this, she mused, Caleb was really handy to have around. She could almost forgive him for causing their accident in the first place.

**oOOo**

Caleb tried the door of the cabin but it was locked. He turned to look at Hanna and saw that she had taken off one mitten and was running her fingers along the frame of the door.

Hanna was praying that Mrs. Ackard hadn't changed during the past two years. Her fingers found the small hole and she pulled the key out of its hiding place.

"Ha!" she grinned, holding the key up triumphantly to show Caleb. "What did I tell you?"

When they stepped inside Caleb let out a low whistle. "This is a cabin?"

He had been expecting something primitive without electricity or running water when she said "cabin". He had not been expecting this. The ceiling was low in the entryway but the wide hallway led into a spacious great room with a high ceiling framed with logs. The far wall was nothing but windows with a large stone fireplace. If it weren't for the blizzard of white outside, the cabin probably had a commanding view of the nearby lake.

"Remind me to become a dentist later, will ya? Or a reverend..." He turned back to see that the low ceiling over the entryway was actually a loft that could be accessed by a rustic log ladder. Actually, that knotty pine look seemed to be a theme for all of the cabin's decor. Hanna brushed past him and clicked the light switch near the door on and off without success.

"Rats," she muttered. "The storm must have knocked out the power."

There was a phone on the wall and Caleb lifted it experimentally. When he heard a dial tone he said, "Landline's working."

"Great, call Mrs. Montgomery. Tell her we won't be at school tomorrow unless she sends out the Swiss Guards." Hanna said through gritted teeth. She was having a hard time keeping her anger towards the person who had made them drive out here in the first place to herself.

"Yeah, good idea. If this was the Vatican..." Caleb muttered, amused.

"So call someone else."

"Who am I going to call? My parole officer?" his tone sounded teasing, but Hanna didn't see him smile.

"Fine, call my mom and have her come pick us up. Maybe she can bring my dad along so that he can take the Mercedes back home."

Caleb handed her the receiver. "Oh no, I think you better call your mom yourself before she thinks I kidnapped you and before she tries to pull me through the receiver so that she can strangle me."

Hanna dialed her own land-line at home and her mother's cell phone number – the only numbers she knew without having to look them up in the contacts of her now dead phone – but her mother didn't answer either.

**oOOo**

They started a fire in the fireplace using wood that had been stored under a tarp on the porch outside. Once the fire was roaring, they moved to the couch in front of the fire. Hanna leafed through an old magazine (a fall 2008 edition of lnStyle, so interesting!) and found an article on a charity auction with bachelor celebrities. Caleb had settled in on the other end of the couch and was reading a dusty copy of 'The catcher in the rye'.

"Caleb? Do you think our school should put up a student bachelor auction this year in order to collect some money for the computer lab?"

Caleb shrugged but didn't look up from the book. "Auctioning off minors? That's ridiculous! And probably illegal."

"If it's for a good cause… Why not? You could all offer your services to help the community. In whichever way you choose, of course." She gave him a contemplative look. "What about you? Would you say yes if they asked you to be auctioned off?"

"Me?" Caleb set the book down and gave her a quizzical look.

"Sure. Why not? You're single and... attractive. Sort of."

"I'm hardly in the same league as the bachelors they usually auction off at those venues. The bad boys don't usually have that much of a following, you know." He picked the book up again.

"I'll bet Sean is going to be there," Hanna said in a far-away tone.

Down went the book. "Who?"

"Sean Ackard. This is his family's cabin, remember? His mom's a high-profile dentist now and I'll bet she'd do anything to get some PR for more clients."

"Would you bid on him if he was?"

Hanna laughed. "l could have had him when we were thirteen. He was my first kiss. It happened right here in front of the fireplace. We waited until everyone had gone to bed and then snuck back out here to sit on the couch together."

"This couch?" Caleb asked.

"No. This is a new couch."

"So how was it?" He closed the book and set it aside.

She shook her head. "It was okay, at first. Then he tried to French-kiss me and I slapped him."

Caleb laughed. "Ouch!"

"l told him that I wasn't that kind of girl. The funny thing is, I had been hoping he would French-kiss me."

"So why did you slap him?"

"It wasn't all that great after all. It was just... his tongue in my mouth. It wasn't exciting or romantic; it was actually kind of gross."

"So I guess things didn't work out between you two."

Hanna let out a sound that was almost a snort. "No. He was a jerk. He told his friends that we'd done more than just kiss." She shrugged, able to smile now about those not-that-long-ago hurts, "l wouldn't even bid on him if the starting bid was twenty-five cents."

"Sounds like quite the superhero that you've shared your first kiss with," Caleb said.

"True," Hanna said with a giggle before letting out a long sigh. "God, can you imagine... If superheroes were real. Like… if Superman was real and they'd auction him off... I bet he'd be worth like a thousand bucks."

Caleb frowned at her. "l doubt it."

Hanna laughed. "But you... You'd be somewhere smack in the middle between Sean Ackard's dime and Superman's grand."

Caleb shook his head and stretched his legs out in front of him, sinking deeper into the couch. "l don't know whether you meant that as a compliment or not."

"Me neither." Hanna watched the fire's reflection in his chocolate-brown eyes. "Actually, I think you're more interesting than Superman could ever be."

"l am?"

She felt bad that Caleb sounded so surprised. "Of course! You know everything about computers and cell phones. I bet Superman doesn't even have a cell phone. Plus, you carried me almost a mile through a snowstorm earlier," she reminded him softly.

"You don't think the real Superman would have done the same?"

"He'd have just flown me home. It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun as this."

"You're having fun?"

"l am." She sighed and nudged his knee with the toe of her boot. "Aren't you?"

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be right now."

Hanna tipped her head back against the arm of the couch, surprised to find that his soft words made her feel lightheaded. "See," she told him, "like that. The real Superman would probably never flirt with a woman. He has to be there for the entire world."

"You think I'm flirting with you?"

"Aren't you?" Her stomach seemed to plummet and she suddenly felt sick. Oh god, had she been reading too much into his words?

"l don't know," he said. "If I said that I was, would you slap me?"

Hanna gave him a shy smile. "No."

He smiled back and her toes curled. She suddenly felt thirteen again. She had been so awkwardly hopeful that night, waiting for Sean to kiss her. What was wrong with her? Did she want Caleb to kiss her, too?

**oOOo**

They had been stranded for over three hours and Hanna badly needed a distraction. She couldn't sit by the fire for one more second and flirt with Caleb. It wasn't that flirting with him was so awful — no, it was that it was so fun. She enjoyed their verbal sparring matches far more than she was willing to admit. It was just that it suddenly seemed much more laden with portent when they were completely alone like this. That she was actually thinking about kissing him was dangerous.

There were so many reasons not to get involved with anyone. But what was so frightening was that Caleb wasn't just anyone. He was Caleb. He might annoy the hell out of her sometimes, but during the past couple of months he had somehow become more than just a detention buddy to her. He was her sounding board and the voice of reason whenever she was on the verge of doing something rash. He had become the one person she relied on over everyone else, even over her tight-knit group of girlfriends. He had been there for her when her life was falling apart. He had become her guy friend, possibly even her new best friend.

Given her relationship track record, was it worth risking everything Caleb meant to her simply because she was tempted to kiss him?

Hanna slathered peanut butter onto another stale cracker and shoved the whole thing into her mouth. If she chewed long enough she was pretty sure that the urge to kiss him would pass. She decided to concentrate on slowly eating her half of the meager rations they had found when they raided the kitchen.

All too soon, the crackers were gone and she had to face the fact that she still wanted to kiss him. Hanna drank the last of the water in her glass and then sighed. She was still thirsty and the kitchen seemed so very, very far away. Actually, that might be a good thing. If she was in the kitchen, it meant she wouldn't be out here sneaking surreptitious glances at Caleb.

She took another peek at him anyway, only to find him watching her. "Um, I was going to get a drink, Do you want a refill?" she asked as she stood up.

Caleb shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Thanks anyway."

Hanna headed towards the kitchen, favoring her left ankle as she went. She lingered at the sink for as long as she dared, sipping water and wondering just how cold the toilet seat was going to be once her bladder started protesting her evasive tactics.

She finally gave up and came back into the living room. Caleb watched her carefully cross the room and she could see that he looked concerned.

"Is your ankle still bothering you?" he asked as she sat back down.

"It's a little sore." She gingerly swung her leg to the middle of the sofa. "Maybe I should elevate it?"

Caleb picked up her foot and shifted closer to her before letting it come to rest on his lap. "We should wrap your ankle."

"With what?"

He pulled the scarf from her coat which was lying over the back of the couch behind him. "This."

There was something almost erotic about the feel of him unzipping her boot and pulling it off. Hanna closed her eyes, sinking back into the cushions as he gently prodded and checked her ankle.

"l don't think it's broken," he told her,

"No," she murmured. "It doesn't hurt all the time, just mostly when I try to put weight on it."

He wrapped the scarf over and around her ankle and foot and Hanna almost sighed at how much better that felt.

"Thanks, Caleb."

"You're welcome." He reached over and pulled her right foot onto his lap, then took off her other boot.

Hanna didn't say a word, curious to see what he was going to do next. There was something so self-assured about his movements, as if he had every right to be this familiar with her. He did, she realized. She was forever touching him, wasn't she? She was always reaching out to pat his arm or his shoulder. In nearly four months that they knew each other there probably wasn't a hair or a piece of lint on his leather jacket that had escaped her attention. She blushed as she realized how that must look to him.

His fingers began to softly knead the arch of her foot and her head tipped back. She wondered if this was the right time to ponder the depth of her feelings for Caleb.

No. Now was definitely the wrong time to be thinking about that. The combination of the firelight, his touch, and their isolation combined was starting a flicker of heat deep inside her abdomen. Her toes curled at how potentially sexual their whole situation suddenly seemed to be.

"Oh, that feels good," she groaned before she could stop herself. And if that felt good, she wondered, what would it feel like if her socks were off? How amazing would his touch be on her bare skin?

"Reflexology," he told her.

"Reflex- what?" She couldn't think; she was sinking deeper and deeper into a state that was like aroused lethargy.

"An ancient healing art postulating that areas of the foot mirror areas of the body. What your big toe is feeling is also transferred to your head."

Hanna wondered if he was right because she was definitely feeling light-headed and fuzzy.

"How do you know all that?"

"I spent a lot of nights in the school library. You name the book and I can assure you that I've read it at least once." Hanna kept staring at his profile, unable to form any words in her mouth.

"So this," his thumb made small circles across her heel, "should also be felt in your sciatic nerve. It's supposed to help with backaches."

"Mmmm," she agreed. If he kept that up, her spine was going to melt into the couch along with the rest of her. His thumb moved to the base of her instep and she raised her head from the couch's arm. "Okay, that felt weird. Where's that supposed to be?"

There was smothered laughter in his voice as he answered, "Your bladder."

She giggled. "Are you trying to make me pee in my pants?"

This time he did laugh. "Maybe."

His thumb moved a little lower, making more gentle circles, and her head fell back against the arm of the couch, "God, that's great. Where's that?"

He seemed to hesitate for a moment before he softly answered, "l don't remember."

"Well, don't stop, wherever it's supposed to be. It's perfect." His thumb continued with the same small circles and she sighed contentedly. "Do you know what? I swear I can feel that one everywh..." Her words trailed away into a happy moan.

Suddenly he was standing up and setting her feet back on the sofa. Hanna sat up in bewilderment as Caleb rushed towards the darkened kitchen.

"Caleb?"

"Thirsty," was his choked-sounding answer.

**oOOo**

While Caleb was running the tap in the kitchen to recover from his sudden raging thirst, Hanna hobbled into the master bedroom. It was freezing in there and she quickly dismissed the idea of actually sleeping anywhere but in front of the fireplace. She tugged at the covers on the bed, pulling them off and dragging them behind her as she limped back into the main room.

Caleb had returned from the kitchen and Hanna announced, "It's too cold to sleep in there. We should stay out here." She tossed the covers onto the floor and went back for the pillows.

"Do you want the mattress moved out here?" Caleb asked from the doorway.

The room was dark, so she couldn't see his face, but his voice sounded just a little strained to her.

"Mattress?" Her mind seemed to stutter at the thought of lying on a mattress in front of the fire with Caleb.

"Sure," he said as his darkened outline moved further into the room. "You can sleep on the mattress and I'll take the couch. Then no one has to sleep on the floor."

"Good idea," she grudgingly admitted as her little daydream with both of them snuggled together on the mattress fell apart. "I'll take these pillows out and come back to help you."

"l think I can get it. Besides, you should stay off that foot."

Sure enough, he was able to wrangle the mattress off the bed and was towing it easily alongside him when he came back into the room. Caleb tipped the mattress to lean against the wall and then walked over and tugged the couch further back from the fireplace. Hanna watched as he went back for the mattress, bringing it to just a few feet from the fireplace before lowering it to the floor. He picked up the thick quilt she had dropped and spread it over the mattress. Then he picked up the lighter blanket that had been on the bed and took it over to the couch.

"Do you want both blankets?" he asked. "Because I think I'd be okay without one."

"No." Hanna shook her head. "Thank you, though."

**oOOo**

Hanna sighed. She had been tossing and turning for what seemed like hours now. Even though the mattress was soft, she couldn't seem to get comfortable. She knew it wasn't the mattress. It was having to listen to the sound of Caleb's soft breathing. The nighttime noises of Rosewood had never bothered her, but her fellow convict's presence was enough to cause insomnia.

Caleb made a soft grunt and Hanna turned her head to see him shifting on the couch. He, too, seemed unable to fall asleep. It was too much to hope for that having her there was keeping him awake, wasn't it? Was it wrong that she wanted him to touch her? If he wasn't asleep yet, maybe she could talk him into massaging her feet again. That had nearly put her to sleep the first time.

"Are you okay over there?" she asked.

"Yep."

A long and silent minute went by and she wondered if he really was comfortable on the couch. He wasn't that tall Of a guy, but surely it had to be frustrating for him to have to try and sleep on the worn-out cushions of a couch that wasn't much bigger than a loveseat. She could offer to switch places with him, but she really didn't want to give up the mattress either.

She could at least offer him to share.

No! No, she couldn't. That would be too forward.

Then again, they had been here for hours and, aside from a little flirting and that foot rub — neither of which could really be construed as overtly coming on to her — he had been acting like a perfect gentleman, much to her surprise. Besides, if he was going to try and take advantage of the situation, wouldn't he already be lying next to her?

Hanna cleared her throat before asking, "Did you want the mattress? I mean, we could share."

"Pardon me? You want to share the mattress… with ME?"

"l, uh, I trust you. Plus, we'd both be WARMER," she tried to convince him.

There was a long pause during which she fervently wished she had never suggested it in the first place.

"Are you asking me to sleep with you?" The teasing tone of his voice immediately set her at ease.

She blushed but answered with a steady voice. "These are extenuating circumstances, Caleb. It's not like I'm doing this for kicks."

"You'd be doing it for warmth?" The tease was still there, but she could hear the concern beneath it.

'What's going to happen when the fire dies down and neither of us wakes up to put another log on?" Hanna mentally patted herself on the back for that bit of quick-thinking.

The blanket he had been using suddenly descended over the one she was lying beneath and then the covers to her right lifted so he could join her.

"Okay," he said carefully. "But only because you insisted." The mattress dipped at his weight and her stomach made a similar drop. For a few moments her mind swam with the idea that he wouldn't just lie down, but would instead slide over and take her in his arms and..

"What?" she blurted out, realizing that he had said something and she had no idea what it was.

"l said, 'good night, Hanna' "

"Oh, uh, good night."

What had she been thinking? It was even more maddening to listen to him breathing right next to her. It was far worse because she could sense the solid bulk of him and the heat of his body. Hanna turned onto her side, facing away from him. Through the windows she could see that the snow was still falling. They were going to be stuck here beyond tomorrow. Hell, they'd be lucky if someone managed to get to them before spring break.

No, that wouldn't happen. Somehow, someway, she was sure that her mom would eventually show up and take them home. And yet the tiniest little part of her was glad that so far she hadn't.

She listened to Caleb's breathing gradually become even and deep. She was lulled closer and closer to sleep herself. Her eyelids grew heavier and her thoughts seemed to still. She felt safe and warm; cocooned beneath the blankets and the weight of the snow on the roof of the cabin. She sleepily rolled over and her half-closed eyes caught sight of Caleb. He was lying on his back, his face turned towards her. She smiled to herself, content in the knowledge that he was nearby. Then she realized that he had a small, jagged piece of cracker entangled in his long hair.

Her eyes felt so heavy, it was almost a chore to crack them open again. She blinked back to wakefulness and then propped herself up on one elbow. It wasn't worth waking him up just to remove the crumb when she could do it for him. She had just started to work it free when he sat up, jerking away from her.

"What are you doing?" he asked accusingly.

She snatched her hand back as if burned, surprised by his overreaction. "You have a cracker crumb in your hair. I just thought I'd pull it out."

"Oh," he said, sounding a little sheepish. "I'm sorry. You just startled me. I'm, uh, I'm not used to having someone else around when I'm sleeping."

Hanna nodded. "l know. Me neither, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

They both laid back down and stared at the patterns of light and shadow flickering high above them on the ceiling. A couple of minutes passed and, when he still hadn't sorted out the mess in his hair, Hanna rolled onto her side to face him.

"Don't you think you'd better remove that cracker from your hair before you fall asleep again?"

"Why do you care that much about my hair?" he asked, amused.

"I don't. I just don't like having crumbs in my bed." He looked like he was frowning and it piqued her curiosity. "You aren't going to do it, are you?"

"Do what?"

She let out an exasperated sigh. "You're not going to remove that crumb from your stubborn scalp, are you?"

He shrugged. "I'm fine like I am."

"Why won't you? Trust me, you'd look much better without it. Almost handsome," she tried, changing tack.

"Maybe that's why I won't. You wouldn't be able to resist me."

"Ha," she said sarcastically. "I bet that's just your way of showing that you never do what people want you to do."

"That's exactly the reason."

Why wouldn't he take her advice? What was the big deal? Caleb was forever pushing her buttons and testing her – was this just subtle way he had found to irritate her? Why did he do that? Why couldn't he always be docile? Why did he have to ruin what had been a perfectly lovely evening by the fire by being mule-headed? Why?

Finally, Hanna spoke again. "Okay, how about this? You remove that piece of cracker and… and…"

"… and what? You'll take something off for me? Just to show me that you always do what people want you to do?" he suggested, teasing her just a little.

Hanna could hear the dare in his tone and she frowned. She hadn't thought that far ahead. "Like what?" she asked hesitantly. She wasn't about to offer just 'whatever he wanted'. The momentary titillation of having Caleb spruce up himself could not possibly be worth losing her shirt over.

"No worries," he said reassuringly. "You'll just take off your socks. I've seen your toes before."

"When have you ever seen my toes before?"

"You wear open-toed shoes to school almost every other day."

"And you always look at my toes?" She wasn't sure what was more flattering — that Caleb remembered what kind of shoes she usually wore or the fact that he was willing to admit it. "I'm perfectly happy to look at anything you're willing to expose. It's not the display that makes something erotic. It's what you hide."

She snorted. "Looking at my toes was erotic?" Okay, that trumped remembering what she had worn _and_ admitting it.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," he said lightly.

She fell silent. He had done it again. He had once again given an example of the mystery that seemed to surround him… rebellious demeanor, scars and all. That was the weirdest part and the most maddening.

Fine. There was more than one way to skin this cat. She could just wait until he fell asleep again. Or, her mind provided helpfully, she could seduce them off of him. Kiss him — distract him — and she could get the crumbs out before he even knew what had happened

Hanna swallowed nervously at the thought of kissing Caleb. She was insane. No, she was bored. She was bored and trapped and already itching to touch him. The truth was that she wanted to kiss him. She wanted to kiss him far more than she had ever wanted to kiss stupid Sean Ackard. But if she kissed Caleb now, he would know it was a ruse. Or worse — he might guess that it wasn't really the cracker crumb she was after. Was she really ready for that sort of admission? And more importantly, was he?

So she tried something else. She shivered.

No reaction.

She shivered again and edged a little closer to him.

Still no reaction.

Hanna frowned. He was being so uncooperative. She shivered again and this time she boldly put her hand on his upper arm and complained, "I'm cold. Aren't you cold?"

He made a soft sound that was almost a snort and said, "Now you're cold?"

If she backed down now he'd have proof that she was faking it. So she nestled closer to him and said, "The wind has picked up outside." That much was true. The wind was howling at the eaves of the cabin — but it had been doing that for at least the past hour.

"Face the other way," he told her, taking her arm to guide her into rolling so that she was facing away from him. "We can spoon."

Damn him! Hanna thought about protesting but there was simply no way to insist that they stay like they were without flat-out admitting what she was up to. And he knew that. Of course, he knew that. She fumed to herself but went along with his suggestion and rolled so that she was facing the fireplace. The solid length of Caleb's body settled behind hers and her eyes fluttered closed briefly as his arms wrapped around her waist to seal them close together.

"Is that better?" he whispered.

The heat of his breath played over her ear and cheek and her eyes closed again. Did he have any idea what he was doing to her? What in the hell was she thinking? Play with fire, her inner voice mocked her, and you get burned.

"Uh-huh," she offered non-committally.

The weight of his arm across her waist lifted and her eyes flew open. Was he done teasing her now? Was he going to move away? But... but... but she had just realized that she kind of liked this…

Something like relief, but not actual relief — no, she wasn't that desperate — went through her when he used his free arm to tug the blankets over them again. Then his arm returned to where it had been before and she was left to wonder why having Caleb Rivers hold her so possessively could set off so many conflicting emotions.

And it wasn't just emotions. There was a definite physical response to his proximity sliding like molten honey through her veins. She had never felt anything like this.

Hanna took slow, even breaths as she tried not to think about how her rear end was cradled against his groin and how his knees were tucked beneath hers. He was so close to her half-baked fantasies at this moment and there was simply nothing to do but try and memorize how good he smelled and the way his arms felt around her. She remembered his deft touch earlier as he was massaging her foot and it suddenly occurred to her that maybe — just maybe — it hadn't been thirst that sent him running from the room earlier.

What if she could have the same effect on him as he was having on her? How amazing would that be?

She flushed at the thought and wished that she dared to move. Would she feel... it? Was he at all excited by how they were laying? Her heart pounded faster at the idea. His breathing was even but, then again, so was hers and yet her mind was spinning fast.

How would he feel if he knew she wasn't the least bit interested in that tiny crumb in his hair? Not entirely, anyway. She could think of this as a social experiment. How far would Caleb go just to be stubborn and keep her from touching his body? What if she turned the tables on him and took control of the situation?

She had been hugging her arms to her chest and she felt almost naked when she deliberately relaxed against him and covered his hand with hers.

"My hand's cold," she told him and laced her fingers with his. Good. That was good. Now she had control of his hand. She moved their hands a little higher until they were resting just millimeters from her breast. Let him think about that one for a while.

"Are you warmer now?" he muttered.

"Getting there," she answered. Hanna bit her lip and edged backwards so that her backside bumped softly against his groin.

His response was immediate — he shifted a little as well to put some space between them.

She almost grinned at the thought that she might actually be affecting him

"Where are you going?" she asked, making her voice sound sleepy and confused. "l thought you were gonna keep me warm." She nudged backwards until there was full contact between them again.

He sighed into her hair but didn't move. She couldn't understand what he was so paranoid about — there wasn't the slightest hint — that she could tell — that he was at all turned on by this. Luckily for her, there was no way that he could tell she was getting turned on. She nonchalantly moved their joined hands closer to her body until his thumb was lightly pressed against her breast.

Then she waited. He had to realize where his hand was, what he was inadvertently touching, She was achingly aware of it herself Her nipples contracted at the thought that, if he only moved his hand a little higher, the talented thumb that had done marvelous things to her feet would be touching her sensitive nub. She took long, slow, deep breaths and concentrated on making her body heavy and relaxed. Was she relaxed enough to seem sleepy?

She shifted again, pressing backwards against him and his body tensed

"Don't," he whispered hoarsely. "Please, Hanna, don't."

"Hmm?" She tried to sound innocently confused.

She heard him swallow and then he continued in that same thick tone. "You're playing with fire."

She already knew that, but apparently he had never bought her sleepy and cold act. So she answered in a teasing tone. "Are you going to burn me?"

The hand she had clutched to her breast now pressed deliberately against her and his thumb made contact with her nipple. Electric sparks seemed to crackle along her nerves and she let out a muffled gasp.

"Is that what you want? To be burned?" His voice had become even lower.

"Maybe just singed a little," she managed to choke out as her entire body turned heated. Please, Caleb, she thought, move your thumb. Do it again.

"Do you want to know a secret?" He shifted away from her, enough that he could gently urge her onto her back as he lay stretched alongside her. His hand touched her cheek, caressing it lightly.

"A s-s-secret?" she stammered. All her higher brain functions had shut down at the thought that he was about to….

He leaned down and kissed her. No preamble, no slow build – just a single mind-searing kiss. When he lifted his head again they were both panting. "I have never wanted anything in my life more than to kissi you," he confessed in a husky tone.

Dizzy. How was it possible to be that dizzy and still be lying down? "Oh god," she whispered. A rush of heat was rapidly pooling in her belly. "Really?"

"I don't mean just tonight. I mean since practically the day that we met. If you're cold, I'll hold you. But if you're doing this just to tease me, please spare us both."

Hanna touched his cheek, her thumb finding and then tracing his lower lip. "What if I wanted you to kiss me again?" she whispered.

He bent down and his mouth touched hers. This time he seemed almost hesitant, but she wasn't going to settle for that. Her hand went to the back of his head to increase the pressure of their kiss. She touched her tongue to his lip. He tasted faintly like the peanut butter they had eaten for dinner. Feeling bolder, she felt her way past his lips and into his mouth. The taste of him became something that was solely Caleb. His tongue met hers, teased her and then he took over the kiss, rolling her fully beneath him. The weight of his hip pressed against hers and she arched up, wishing she could have more. There was an ache inside her, a longing for contact.

He broke the kiss, gasping for air. Then he nuzzled her neck, his lips nibbling at her skin. "We'd better stop soon," he murmured.

"Why?" She felt almost drunk, her head wheeling at the thought that kissing Caleb was far more addictive than she had ever imagined possible. He wanted her – he actually, truly wanted her. It should have been frightening, but instead it felt so perfectly right.

He answered with a soft groan that seemed to vibrate over her skin. "I'm going to have to go sleep in the car."

Her hands slid over the wide expanse of his back to squeeze at his shoulders. "You'd freeze to death before you ever got back to the car. No, you'd better stay here." Hanna tipped her head back to give him better access as he continued to kiss her neck.

"I'm just afraid you're going to come to your senses and slap me like you did that dude Sean Ackard." His head lifted and he gave her a teasing grin.

She grinned back at him and gave a little shrug. "You're a better kisser than he was."

"So you're not holding out some secret hope of rescue right now?"

"My mom said they wouldn't be able to reach us here until tomorrow morning," she reminded him. "So I think you're stuck with me."

"God, where's that real-life Superman when you need one, huh?" he teased her.

"If he was real and if he ever did show up, I'd tell him to check on us in a couple of days and see if we're still here. And maybe to bring us a pizza or something." She giggled against his chest.

"Think who would what?"

"Superman. Do you think he'd bring us a pizza?"

"Hanna…" His voice faded and he cleared his throat. "You don't need the real Superman for that. I bet there's plenty of guys out there who'd do anything for you."

She grinned. "Now that would be nice, but you're wrong."

"About what?"

"No one would do just anything for me. There's no one dumb enough to drive out here to bring me a peperoni pizza in this weather. Not even Lucas."

"Especially with me being here, too."

"Speaking of which, do you have any other girls who still owe you for prepping their phones? Last time I checked there was a great number of sexy girls lining up for you after school." She laughed even though her heart was feeling a tinge of jealousy. She quickly kissed him again and he groaned into her mouth.

"God, I'm in so much trouble," he whispered when the kiss ended.

"Why's that?"

"Because I would do anything for you."

"Mmm. So there's one man at my beck and call. Who needs a superhero when I can have you as my love slave?" She kissed him again, still not quite believing that she could get away with doing so.

"Love slave?" he asked in disbelieving amusement.

"You said you would do anything for me, didn't you?"

"I did."

"Do you want to know a secret, Caleb?" She swallowed and shored up her courage. "I'd do anything for you, too."

"Anything?" he whispered near her ear, sending another shiver through her.

"Mmmhmm." Hanna chased his mouth for another kiss.

"Would you forgive me for something?" he asked quietly.

"Forgive you for what? What have you done?" she answered with a giggle.

"I've kept something from you."

It dawned on her that he wasn't teasing anymore. "Concerning detention?"

He shook his head. "It's got nothing to do with school. It's, well, it's a secret for a reason. But I want to trust you with it."

"It's a big secret? Like a national security kind of thing?"

"Not national security. It's a secret about me. To me it's practically life or death."

His last secret confession was still singing in her veins and now her heart pounded with the hope that he was trying to work up the courage to tell her he was in love with her.

"Tell me," she whispered, "and I swear I'll never tell a soul."

**oOOo**

Caleb doubted he had ever done anything this dangerous. For hours now he had known just how near to the edge he was, but he continued to creep ever closer to total disaster.

He shouldn't have touched her. That was where he had gone wrong.

He wished he could say it had started innocently enough, but he couldn't. They were building the fire when Caleb first realized that he wanted this to be real. What if they had come here deliberately? His imagination had gone into overdrive, picturing a weekend tryst with Hanna as the snow piled up outside. He tried to steer away from that idea and think of their situation as a just-friends retreat. But his mind had stubbornly returned again and again to the image of them locked in a passionate embrace. When she started flirting with him he had given in to the fantasy and pretended that he had a place in her future and that she would fall asleep in his arms that night.

He had told himself he was just being friendly, but the awful truth was that he badly wanted to touch her. He did that all the time and she had never called him on it yet. He would let his fingers brush past her elbow or touch the small of her back as she went through a door ahead of him. He had a million excuses to touch her – and she never seemed to realize that he wasn't being polite.

So he had touched her, if only to shade his fantasies with something real.

When she didn't protest, he had dared a little more under the guise of checking her ankle. His mind had not stopped at simply taking off her boots. What if he could have sex with her in front of the fire? He had imagined it all in detail as he massaged her foot – how she would arch beneath him, her hands stroking across his back, her legs wrapped around him… And then Hanna had moaned and he added one more detail to his daydream before he had fled for the relative safety of the kitchen.

If only she hadn't moaned. Until that moment he had been able to fool himself into believing that he was doing it for her. Her moan had created a low, heavy tug of arousal and everything she had done since then had only deepened his need to hear her make that sound again.

Why had she picked this night, of all nights, to tease him like this? She knew darn well the hold she had over him. He couldn't understand why she had picked now to frustrate him. He had told himself that he would call her bluff. But somehow she had called his instead. He had been full of breathless wonder as he realized that, not only was he touching her breast, but she had moved his hand there on purpose. Could she, did she, actually want him? At the thought that she might, he had desired her so much that it had taken all his willpower to warn her that she was pushing him too far.

And now here they were – at this breathless moment when he had gone too far past the edge to get back safely. He had to tell her – if only for his own sanity. It was going to be a long fall from grace and he was already beginning to mourn what might have been.

Hanna gave him a hopeful smile and her hand stroked over his cheek. "Tell me," she whispered encouragingly.

You'll lose her forever, his mind screamed.

Caleb hesitated and then sat up, pulling on her hand to have her sit up with him. He couldn't tell her when she was pinned beneath him. He looked at her lips, still wet from their kisses, and his heart sank that he might never kiss her again.

"Come on, Caleb. Trust me." She squeezed his hand reassuringly.

He gave her a regretful smile. "I do trust you, it's not that. I'm just… afraid that you're going to be upset with me."

"Upset with you? Is this something you've done? Like you killed a man or…"

"Not quite like that. It's something I did when I was fifteen…" His body turned cold and heavy with dread. "It's something I've been trying to push to the back of my mind for some time…" Caleb took a deep breath and then tried again. "I've never told this to anyone. I never even wanted to tell anyone until you."

"Tell me what?" she asked slowly, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked closely at him.

"I'm not the kind of guy you think I am, Hanna." He paused, gathering his thoughts before he continued with a trembling voice. "My parents didn't want me. When I was five my mom brought me to my aunt's house for babysitting and that was the last time I saw her. My aunt couldn't afford raising me so she sent me to foster care. I was a foster child no one ever wanted to have around for long. I had seventeen foster families since the age of six, can you believe that? I got pushed around, treated badly, people tried to starve me out, some even beat the crap out of me when I wasn't able to acquire money for them to buy alcohol." His hands shook as he slicked his hair back nervously with his fingers. "And so, one day… I hit back. Hard! Broke that asshole's nose and wrist."

"Oh, Caleb…" Her expression softened and she reached out to hold his hand. She opened her mouth to say something else but he rushed to finish telling her, needing to spill everything before he lost his nerve.

"I spent four months in juvie!" he blurted out, relieved to finally have that burden off his shoulders.

"Oh my god," she said softly. Her eyes widened and he heard her breath hitch. Her expression flickered and her hand twitched in his. For a moment he thought she was going to snatch it away from him and then her fingers squeezed his.

Her calm acceptance sent a tiny ray of hope through him. She wasn't upset. All those instincts that had insisted she was the one person he could tell were right. At that moment he was certain he had fallen hopelessly in love with her. His vision swam and she blurred in front of him as his throat seemed to close off. "I wanted you to know everything about me," he managed to choke out. "Criminal track record and all. So that you can make the right decision… about me. I mean, us."

"I don't care." Hanna said, her voice firm. She took his hand between both of hers and clasped it tightly. "I'm not afraid of you. Or your past. You don't come off as the guy who beats up girls. You might install some dangerous spy software thingy on their phones if they don't pay you for your technical services, but that's probably it. Not once have I ever felt threatened in your presence."

"It's not just me not wanting to scare you with my criminal past. It's more like me not wanting to have anything stand between us… And finally being able to talk about my past to somebody who doesn't roll their eyes at me and switch on their TV in order to stop the conversation. It feels good to finally have that out in the open."

"Caleb, you're not alone in this. You did what you did and you paid the price for your personal liberation. It's not your fault you ended up in juvie. I mean, of course, it is but you know what I mean… That sick foster father practically forced you to fend for your life. You were just an innocent child and what he did was simply abominable."

He stayed mum, trying hard to remember the exact moment in his life he had lost that innocence.

"But now you have me," Hanna continued. "Whenever you need someone to talk to, I'm here for you."

At that, his composure betrayed him and his breath caught in his throat. He raised his other hand to cup her cheek and made one last confession. "I'm in love with you," he told her in a hoarse whisper.

Her shy smile took his breath away. "I'm in love with you, too," she said and he could hear her voice shaking. "I think I've been in love with you all along, Caleb. I hope you can believe that despite the way I've been treating you at times."

His hand smoothed over her cheek and his thumb brushed away a tear that had come free. "No, that's kind of how I knew that I wasn't all the same to you," he reassured her with a small smile.

Hanna leaned forward and kissed him, her lips soft and cool against his. She began to tremble and he pulled her closer, onto his lap, and wrapped his arms around her so he could cradle her against his chest. His cheek came to rest on hers and he closed his eyes.

"Tell me this isn't a dream," he whispered. "Please tell me this is really happening."

"It's real," she murmured into his neck. "And if it's not, I don't ever want to wake up. Tell me, is there a way to make it snow forever so we can just stay here, like this?"

As enticing as the thought of holding her forever was, he was quite certain that he couldn't do it. Not like this, anyway. He could already feel the slow, even build of pressure and need inside him. Holding her, feeling her soft curves pressed against him, couldn't be a static situation.

Even now his fingers had crept beneath the hem of her shirt and were savoring the softness of the skin at the small of her back. He splayed his hand simply to feel how small and perfect she was and then he became bolder, stroking a little higher. A tidal wave of lust washed over him. He wanted to touch her everywhere…

"Caleb?" she whispered and the sleepy husk of her voice only increased his need. "I've never… you know… I don't think we should… not here, I mean…" She giggled with embarrassment and the vibrations from her merriment sent another pulse of desire pounding through him.

"It's alright. I'll stop."

She made a little hum and then nuzzled closer to him. "Will you spoon with me?"

"That depends. Are you going to continue to tease me?" He grinned at the thought of actually holding her while she slept.

"Maybe." She practically purred the word.

Caleb's fingers brushed just beneath her breast. "I can go on teasing you, too, you know."

"Hmm. You don't scare me, Caleb Rivers." She shifted on his lap and he remembered how she had tortured him earlier – was she trying to drive him insane?

"I'm not trying to scare you."

"Then what are you trying to do to me?"

His fantasy came back in a rush – Hanna arching up beneath him as her legs tightened around his hips and she whispered, 'Yes…' Caleb took a deep breath and tried to think about the snow piling up outside or how deeply buried the Mercedes must be by now. Grandma Rose… Grandpa Hank… Any thought that could cool off his desire…

"Maybe I should cook us some dinner," he suggested half-heartedly. "I think I saw a bag of expired ramen noodles in the back of the pantry…"

"Not right now." Her hand combed into his hair, tugging his mouth to hers.

Caleb was lost the instant their lips met. Her kiss grew bolder and he felt her tongue on his teeth before she deepened the kiss further. He tipped them both onto the mattress and surrendered to her.

His hands stole across her body. He tested the gentle curve of her hip and then moved higher, across her waist to caress her shoulder. She was so small, so perfect, so soft. He could lose himself forever in her softness. His hand moved down, testing her reaction as he slowly covered her breast with his palm. She arched eagerly into his touch. He cupped her more fully and squeezed gently, moving the fabric of her shirt against the lace that lay beneath. With each circle of his thumb she made a soft cry at the back of her throat that caused his body to swell and pulse in response.

He kissed her again. Their arms and legs intertwined as they rolled and shifted; their bodies moving instinctively. His leg slipped between hers and Hanna groaned when his movements turned rhythmic. Caleb's moan matched hers as he realized that he was rubbing against her sex and she didn't want him to stop.

"Oh…" she moaned.

"Is this what it felt like?" he whispered. "Earlier tonight?"

"When?" she panted.

"When I massaged your foot."

"Oh god," she whimpered. "Refle–" She couldn't remember what he had called it. A white-hot flare went through her at the thought of his hand between her thighs. She shifted beneath him, parting her legs as she unconsciously sought a more complete contact. She could feel him now; feel the hardened ridge of his erection against that tiny bundle of nerves at her center. Hanna wrapped her legs around him and arched to increase the sweet friction of his body on hers. "Caleb, oh, wow…"

His head dropped to her shoulder and he shuddered. Somehow he had tripped over from fantasy into fact and he wasn't sure anymore which was which. The rhythm of his movements changed, becoming slower and more deliberate to try and draw the pleasure out for her. Caleb raised his head and pressed a kiss into her hair, leaving his lips there as he breathed in the sweet scent of her. Beneath him he could feel the rise and fall of her chest against his as she gasped and clutched at his shoulders.

"Don't stop!" She bucked beneath him. "More."

Caleb bit his lip, trying to concentrate on her reactions and not the hot, deep pull of his own arousal. He rocked his hips against hers, again and again, grunting as he did so at the need to hold back. He was almost frantic with the need for release when Hanna let out a low wail and arched beneath him, her words garbled into a long single plea, "Calebgodyesdon'tstop."

Her movements became sated and slow and then she relaxed beneath him. Caleb placed another kiss in her hair and then turned her about, nestling her small frame before him. He tightened his arms around her, shifting her until the pressure of her body against his erection was bearable.

"Oh my god," she murmured and a small tremor shot through her. "Are we really going to do this?"

He nipped lightly at her earlobe. "Do you want me to stop now?"

"I…" Hanna swallowed hard, completely unsure of herself now. Her mind was swimming with what had just happened; what Caleb had just done to her. Euphoria was still rippling through her, ebbing and flowing in time to his ragged breathing.

"It's your choice." He thought about all the longing looks she had given him in the school hallways – all those times he had been forced to hold back the desire he felt in return. Here, at last, was the opportunity to act on all those frustrations. "In fact, I think you should tell me to stop right now or else I wouldn't be able to control myself anymore."

"Right now?" she echoed, distracted by the pulse of his erection against her backside as she tried to grasp that it was Caleb who was holding her. Caleb, the rebel. Caleb, the one with the sad puppy dog eyes. Caleb who was just as in love with her as she had been for quite a while now.

"Yes." He breathed the word more than said it.

"I don't want you to stop," she said, her own breath rapid and irregular. She still couldn't quite believe that this was really happening. She turned onto her back so that she could see his face in the flickering light from the fireplace.

He bent to kiss her, his lips just barely grazing across hers as their breath mingled. "Say it again."

The low pitch of his voice was exactly how she had imagined it to be in an intimate setting and she closed her eyes as she whispered, "I don't want us to stop."

His lips closed softly over hers and Hanna relaxed into the dreamy, sensual rhythm of their kiss. She lifted her hands to his shoulders, appreciating the solid curves beneath. The smell of Caleb, his own personal scent, enveloped her, heightening her awareness of him. She tried to memorize every detail of it. It was a clean scrubbed smell, with undertones of warm male musk, and the faintest sharp tint that was his alone, like… almost like almonds.

Her hands moved around to his neck, her fingers glancing through the soft long hair on the back of his head. She stroked forward along his jawline to cup his face in her palms. She could feel the slight rasp of stubble on his skin and she broke free of his mouth to let her lips wander across his cheek.

Hanna shifted, pushing up against him so that he rolled onto his back. She half-propped herself against his chest and took hold of his sweatshirt's hem. Feeling bolder that he offered absolutely no resistance, she pushed herself further upright until she was kneeling next to him and then shoved the material upward to reveal his bare chest.

Caleb watched her, unsure whether this was real or just the most realistic fantasy ever, as she continued to undress him. Her fingertips brushed lightly against his skin and he let out a low moan. He put his hand on hers to still them and sat up.

"You should know that I'm a big proponent of equal rights. If you take my shirt off, I'm going to insist that yours comes off, too."

Hanna blinked, hesitated and then pulled at the hem of her own shirt, lifting it over her head and tossing it in the direction of the couch. For a moment, Caleb sat absolutely still, his eyes drinking her in, and then he moved to shed his sweater as well.

She reached out to touch him first, her hand falling in a soft caress along his ribs. Hanna moved closer to him, still kneeling, and, for once, her face was higher than his. She bent her head down and kissed him, letting her hand drift lower, over the hard plane of his stomach, until it was resting on his thigh.

Once they were both breathless, she kissed along the long sinuous line of his throat, exposed as he let his head drop back. Her eyes raked over his body as she mentally merged the man before her with the different impressions – both mentally and physically – that she had gained of him so far. Her hands trembled at the thought that his body was now hers to explore.

"We're still not even," he said in a hoarse undertone. His hand lifted and brushed the strap of her bra off her shoulder. She felt the warm sensation of his breath on her skin just before his lips brushed across the spot he had made bare. "I'm topless and you're not."

Caleb lowered his head a little more, catching the strap of her bra between his teeth and tugging on it gently to illustrate his point.

"So take it off," she managed to whisper.

His hand followed the strap around to where it ended in the back, then slid over to the hook holding her bra closed, and opened it. Caleb's fingers closed around the already loosened strap and pulled it further down her arm. The soft lace slipped across her skin and Hanna caught her breath as it fell away, leaving her breasts exposed.

His hand rose to gently cup her and she let go the breath she had been holding.

Caleb's hands slid to her waist and he urged her higher, easily lifting her back to her knees so that her breasts were level with his lips. His mouth closed over her left nipple, suckling her softly as she let out a hard moan and clutched his head.

"You like that?" The vibration of his low voice on her skin flashed across her body like a ripple of heat.

"Mmm." Hanna couldn't even answer coherently. All her muscles seemed to have loosened and melted, leaving her clinging to his shoulders for support. His mouth moved to her other breast and she felt the slick hot slide of his tongue across her nipple. In the firelight all she could see was his dark head and the reflected glow of the flames across the skin of his shoulders. With each pull of his mouth, her eyes closed a little more until all that was left was the image of him in her mind as he pleasured her.

Caleb laid back, taking her along with him in a steady movement. Hanna got distracted by the first true and solid contact between their naked chests. She let out a little gasp at how warm and silky his skin was against hers. His hand swept lightly down her back to rest in the hollow at the base of her spine.

Hanna shifted against him and a wave of heat went through her as her hip brushed against the obvious evidence of his arousal. His eyes closed and he let out a hiss as his hand flexed against her lower back in a silent plea for more. Her fingers drifted past the waist of his pants and, before she could second guess herself, Hanna was touching him. His hips rose to follow the movement of her hand as she stroked him through the fabric, shaping out the length and girth of him.

"I think I'm ready…" She said shyly and her eyebrow quirked upwards. "How about you?"

There was a definite gleam to her eye that wasn't from the fire and Caleb's breathing turned even more ragged. "If I were any more ready, we'd be done."

"Oh, I see," she managed to squeak out as her mind fully processed the thought that Caleb – Caleb! – was going to sleep with her in the oh-so-near feature. Her hand stilled on his erection and he made a muffled groan. "Shoot, we almost forgot. Did you happen to bring a condom?" she whispered.

"As a matter of fact…," he quickly bent forward to reach the inside pocket of his leather jacket that was lying on the floor close by the mattress. Eventually, he presented her with a shiny square wrapper.

"Where were we?" Hanna said as he came laying down beneath her again. "I think I was about to take off your pants, wasn't I?"

"Only if you're willing to take yours off, too" he answered as his hand moved to caress along the waist of her pants. "How much more foreplay did you want?"

"I think I've had enough foreplay."

His hand fumbled at the button on her jeans and then he groaned. "You'd better do this before I yank it off inadvertently."

They both squirmed out of their pants and underwear. He was faster and she felt the tug as he pulled them away from her legs for her. He hurried to slip on the condom and then he was above her, his knee urging her legs apart. He rested his weight on one elbow as his other hand stroked carefully between her thighs.

Hanna tipped her head back and gasped, raising her hips to increase the pressure of his touch. She was so ready, so swollen and wet, that it was torture to keep waiting. Yet she felt a sudden bout of anxiety. "Be gentle, please," she whispered. Hanna could feel the slide of his skin against her inner thighs as he settled into place. His fingers had found her slick center and he made a sound that was almost a growl as he slipped one finger inside her.

"Oh, god…" she moaned as he started rubbing her clit.

All too soon, his hand left her. A few frantic heartbeats later she felt the solid thrum of his erection against her opening. Caleb gently pushed inside and she felt the sweet mingling of pleasure and pain as he continued to stretch and fill her. He rocked his hips slowly, working in deeper and deeper until the only sensation she knew was him.

Caleb shifted his weight onto his elbows, dipping his hips into her in measured strokes. He could feel her body opening to him and he was almost all the way, almost there… He pressed a little harder, a little deeper, and she tipped her head back and gasped.

"Too much?" he groaned. Please, he thought frantically, let her want more.

"God, no." Her hands clutched at his shoulders. "Do it again."

He did and she let out another gasp. After a few more thrusts he let out his own gasp. He was all the way in now, his balls fetching up against her with each slide home. The sensation was so sweet and perfect that he shortened the length of his thrusts, wanting to feel it sooner.

Hanna was left breathless as he drove into her faster. The urgency of his movements only seemed to increase her need for him. She reached above her head, gripping the edge of the mattress to try and brace against the steady, relentless cadence of his body on hers.

Firelight shadowed the muscles of his arms and shoulders as he moved against her. Hanna could feel the tension in his body as he strained to push both of them over the edge. She lifted her hips into the rock and surge of his body and matched his rhythm.

Caleb shuddered and he let his hand move to cup her bottom, lifting her more fully against him.

The first wave caught Hanna unawares, bowing her spine and sparking across her consciousness. She writhed beneath him, greedy for more of the bliss she was starting to feel. Caleb didn't break his rhythm, continuing the same deep drives into her, so deep she could swear he was pounding up her spine and into her brain. At that thought, her body caught fire again and she distantly heard her own shocked wail before the world dissolved around her.

Hanna was clenching and rippling around him and Caleb lost all finesse, giving in completely to the sensation of her. He came in spurts of ecstasy so sharp it was almost too much, his hips moving reflexively to try and make it last. So good – he had never felt anything so good.

His entire body trembled as they sank back into the mattress. Caleb slid to lay next to her, gathering her close against him, unwilling and unable to be completely parted from her. For several minutes neither of them spoke. Their breathing slowly evened out and Caleb's mind kept returning to the image of Hanna, holding his hand and promising that he wasn't alone anymore. She had already fulfilled that promise, though he doubted that she knew it. For the first time in his life he felt like he truly belonged.

Hanna shivered and Caleb pulled the covers back across her as he murmured, "Be right back."

"Mmhm." She nodded sleepily.

He quickly got up and strutted to the bathroom. A few moments later he returned and put on his boxers again. Then he got under the covers and shifted one leg to cover hers. Hanna sighed and settled more heavily against him.

"Do you think they're going to rescue us tomorrow?" she asked softly.

"I guess they should. We're running out of food and oh, did I already tell you the landline's no longer working?" he informed her about his observation a few hours before when he had pretended he'd order their favorite pizza to be delivered to their remote shelter.

"What if they didn't?" She propped herself up on his chest so that she could look at his face. "I know as soon as she saw us both here and dropped me off at home my mom's going to give me the third degree about how you and I got here and what we did all alone in this cabin all night. I'd really like to postpone the interrogation for as long as I can. What if we just stayed here for another day or two? Pretty please?"

"Really?" His hand stroked over her shoulder, savoring the fact that he could touch her like this now. "Hanna Marin wouldn't mind being stuck here with the old Shag Boy a little longer?"

"Stop mocking me. Bring me some midnight snack instead, I'm starved. Maybe there's something other than ramen noodles in that pantry you saw before."

"How about some lasagna sheets with ketchup? I mean I'm no Superman but I'm a master of improvisation. We could call it pizza."

"And sprinkle some ramen noodles on it to make it look like grated cheese?"

"Works for me."

They both laughed in unison.

Hanna sucked in a breath as she saw the elation on his face, remembering that he had told her that he would do anything for her. "You would, wouldn't you? You'd actually go out in the snow and bring me a pizza if I asked for it?"

"I'd bring it all the way from Italy if that's what you wanted."

"Careful! I just might take you up on that…" Hanna said as she lowered her head to his chest, only to rise again with irritation written all over her features. "Wait a minute! You say you'll do anything for me, and yet you didn't do a damn thing to keep my car from crashing. You're really no Superman."

"What was I supposed to have done?" Caleb asked in a teasing tone. "Grow some super powers in order to subvert gravity or blow out hot air so the snow magically disappears?"

"You could have been nicer and not sniped at me about turning around to begin with. This whole situation is your fault, you know."

He brushed the hair back from her face with his hand and sighed.

It was his sigh that diffused her anger into amusement. Hanna grinned at him and traced her thumb over his bottom lip.

"What?" he asked cautiously.

"Do you admit that you were wrong?" she asked.

He sighed again and she let out a small giggle. He really could say so much with a sigh. Especially when it was his Hanna-I'm-not-about-to-argue-with-you sigh.

"Fine," he said, somewhat grudgingly. "I was wrong."

"Are you going to make it up to me?" she persisted.

His eyebrows twitched as he realized that she might not actually be angry. "What did you have in mind?"

Hanna brushed her lips against his as she whispered, "Reflexology…"

**oOOo**

The End


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